Phishing Risks in the Legal Industry

In the legal profession, information is everything. Client records, case strategies, settlement terms — these aren’t just documents; they are the foundation of trust between a lawyer and their client, vital in a world where malevolent actors seek to plunder the massive data reserves of legal companies in order to acquire data and information for their exploits. That’s exactly why law firms have become prime targets for one of today’s most common and damaging cyber threats: phishing.

A Growing and Evolving Threat

Phishing is no longer the amateurish scam of a decade ago; in fact, many phishing cybercriminals today employ various different strategies that actual companies utilize in order to single out targets.

Highly Personalized: Attackers research their targets through public records, firm websites, and even LinkedIn, ensuring that each and every attempt is somewhat personalized, and hence a little more trustworthy than one’s average spam email list.
Multi-channel: While email remains the most common method, phishing can also occur via text messages (smishing) or phone calls (vishing), which can take advantage of people who may not be aware of such methods, believing them to be legitimate since they aren’t happening through email.
Persistent: Cybercriminals often run repeated campaigns, hoping to catch just one unguarded moment, one moment where someone, feeling desperate and overwhelmed, makes that one click that exposes everything to the cybercriminal.

In 2024 alone, law firms worldwide reported millions of dollars in losses tied to phishing-related breaches. In many cases, the compromise began with a single click.

Why Law Firms Are in the Crosshairs

Phishing attacks exploit human trust and predictable processes — two things the legal industry has in abundance. Legal professionals face heightened risk because:

High-value data: One compromised account can expose years of sensitive client records, intellectual property, and financial data.
Authority-based trust: Lawyers frequently receive urgent, high-stakes instructions and may act before verifying the source.
Predictable workflows: Filing deadlines, billing cycles, and settlement schedules are public knowledge and easy for attackers to mimic.

Common Phishing Tactics Targeting Legal Professionals

Fake Court Notices – Emails posing as official communications that require an immediate response, digging into potential victims that are likely exhausted and overwhelmed, and hence, will impulsively respond without fully checking the email.
Client Payment Requests – Criminals impersonating clients to alter banking instructions for settlements or retainers, wedging themselves into the lawyer and client relationship in order to exploit the trust between both sides.
Compromised Vendor Emails – Messages from a trusted accountant, investigator, or consultant’s hacked account containing malware-laced files.
Urgent Internal Memos – Fraudulent emails appearing to come from a managing partner, requesting confidential data under time pressure.

How These Tactics are Applied

On a random Saturday afternoon, a medium-sized firm received what appeared to be a legitimate court filing notice, complete with docket numbers and official-looking seals. The managing partner clicked the “View Case” link, which led to a fake login page mimicking the state’s court portal. Within minutes, attackers had harvested credentials, gaining access to confidential case files. The incident cost the firm weeks of downtime, regulatory scrutiny, and thousands in remediation fees.

In order to pull this off, the cybercriminals employed these strategies:

They utilized docket numbers and seals to mimic an actual filing notice, making the scam appear significantly more trustworthy while personalizing the scam so that the actual threat posed by it is not seen until it is too late.
Utilized a false login page, attempting to copy over and mimic as much as possible of the court portal for the state they are in to appear as legitimate as possible.
Took advantage of a predictable workflow in order to make the message seem legitimate and not out of place and random, potentially tricking victims who might otherwise be aware and alert.

Spotting the Red Flags

Even the most advanced spam filters can miss sophisticated phishing attempts. Teach your team to look for:

Slight misspellings in domain names (e.g., court-g0v.com instead of court.gov).
Unexpected attachments, especially with unusual extensions like .exe, .scr, or .js.
Hyperlinks that don’t match the displayed text when hovered over.
An unusual sense of urgency, threats, or emotional pressure to prompt an immediate response.
Requests that deviate from established firm procedures.

Building a Strong Defense

Even then, sometimes the best way to prevent a potential phishing attack is to simply ensure that it never even is able to attack, let alone target people in the first place. In addition to increased awareness and spotting red flags, your team could also apply both technical and human safeguards.

Technical Safeguards:

Deploy advanced email filtering and link scanning.
Require multi-factor authentication for all accounts.
Keep systems, browsers, and security software updated.

Human Safeguards:

Offer quarterly phishing awareness training sessions.
Run simulated phishing campaigns to identify vulnerabilities.
Enforce a “verify before acting” policy for financial transactions and sensitive data requests.

If You Suspect You’ve Been Phished

Stop and Disconnect – Avoid clicking further links or downloading additional attachments.
Report Immediately – Notify your IT or security team without delay.
Change Credentials – Reset any potentially compromised passwords from a secure device.
Review Recent Activity – Look for unauthorized logins or data transfers.
Notify Affected Parties – If client data is involved, follow ABA and local breach notification rules.

Why This Matters to the ABA

The American Bar Association’s Model Rules aren’t just ethical guidelines — they are professional obligations. Under Rule 1.1, lawyers must maintain competence in relevant technology, while Rule 1.6 mandates safeguarding client information. A successful phishing attack could be considered a violation of both, leading to disciplinary action on top of financial and reputational damage, which can severely cripple a law firm in both the financial sense as well as pushing away potential future customers.

Final Word

Phishing isn’t going away — it’s becoming more convincing by the day. The most effective defense for legal professionals is a proactive, layered approach that combines strong technical safeguards, ongoing staff training, and a culture of healthy skepticism. In the legal profession, a single careless click can carry consequences that can snowball into a complete catastrophe, and hence, the best way to prevent that one careless click is to be just as well aware and trained in order to stay ahead.